E3 Spark Plugs News

Taddy Blazusiak sweeps the final two events of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championships for a perfect season. Phot by Drew Ruiz via EnduroCross.

The final rounds of the 2011 GEICO AMA EnduroCross series might as well have been dubbed the “Taddy Blazusiak Show.” The Polish phenom won both main events, making it a perfect season. But Taylor Robert came with his A-game as well, earning his first ever EnduroCross podium and claiming the E3 Spark Plugs Junior Championship for top drivers under age 21.

In the afternoon Hot Laps, it looked like Blazusiak had some real competition. Beta’s Cody Webb claimed the fastest lap time in the battle for heat race gate picks. Blazusiak settled for second, followed by KTM teammate Mike Brown, Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder and Monster Kawasaki’s Justin Soule. Blazusiak, Brown and Webb proved strong enough in the Hot Laps to earn a direct shot to the double main events.

In the first main event, Blazusiak shot to the front right away, winning the $1,000 Girardi Wealth Management Holeshot award. He kept that lead all the way to the finish line, though Soule remained close enough to make the race an exciting one for both the competitors and the fans. Graffunder also rode an impressive race, making it to the podium in his second race after a broken wrist kept him off the tracks for most of the season.

GEICO Honda’s Kyle Redmond claimed the holeshot in the second main event, but Blazusiak was hot on his trail. Blazusiak quickly took the lead – and took it in a big way. He led by a long shot throughout the remainder of the race. Robert, Brown, Soule and Redmond crossed the finish line behind, him. Keith Sweeten and Jacob Argubright finished second and third, respectively, behind Robert for the E3 Spark Plugs Junior Championship.

Visit the EnduroCross website for full results and mark your calendars for the 2012 championship kickoff in Las Vegas May 4. To all the winners this weekend, congratulations from E3 Spark Plugs!

Taddy Blazusiak wins Round Two of the GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Image courtesy of EnduroCross/Source Interlink.

Round Two of the 2010 GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross series presented by E3 Spark Plugs delivered a dramatic show this past weekend at Guthrie, OK’s Lazy E Arena. Bets were on KTM racer Mike Brown, who dominated much of the race – until the checkers flew. After an exhausting battle across the biggest track of the series, KTM teammate Taddy Blazusiak pulled out all the stops for a spectacular come-from-behind win. After also taking the series opener at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena July 17, Blazusiak thus far has a firm grip on the championship lead.

Brown and Blazusiak traded leads throughout the event, with Brown hitting triples and scrubbing speed in the straights and Blazusiak, true to form, holding the advantage in the technical rocky turns. In fact, it was one rock in particular that ultimately took Brown out of the running for the win. Wet sand had made the river rock 180-degree turn incredibly slick and it was there that Blazusiak made the pass that stuck. Several laps later, Brown’s KTM stalled and never fired back up, saddling its rider with a disappointing DNF.

Taddy Blazusiak wins Round Two of the GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Geoff Aaron (right) took second, Justin Soule (left) third. Image courtesy of EnduroCross/Source Interlink.

Brown’s exit handed second place over to GEICO Christini rider Geoff Aaron, a ten-time National Trials champ. For a moment, it looked as if he may take the win when Blazusiak nearly performed an endo across a double jump on the last lap, but held on long enough to finish first. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Justin Soule took third place, making his first podium finish in only his second main event. The turn of events pushed Soule’s Kawasaki teammate Ricky Dietrich further away from regaining his AMA EnduroCross championship. Dietrich raced despite debilitating pain from a compound fracture of his pinky toe suffered just two weeks prior. The pain and a bent shift lever on the opening lap of the main left him with a modest ninth-place finish.

Next up: Round Three of the GEICO EnduroCross series presented by E3 Spark Plugs in Indianapolis, Indiana Friday, August 27 during MotoGP weekend. Be sure to check the E3 Spark Plugs blog for all the latest racing news. And to boost your own racing performance, pick up a set of E3 Powersports Spark Plugs at one of our licensed dealers with stores online and nationwide.
(more…)

Defending EnduroCross champion Taddy Blazusiak of Poland raced to a hard-fought win, opening the E3 Spark Plugs-sponsored 2010 GEICO EnduroCross Series at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena July 17. Touted the sport’s “premier showman,” Blazusiak rode his Red Bull KTM to victory over Geoff Aaron and Cory Graffunder.

Poland's Taddy Blazusiak, winner of the 2010 GEICO EnduroCross Series' Las Vegas opener.

Ten time National Trials champ Aaron kick-started race day by setting the fastest time in the Pioneer Hot Lap, which determined the gate picks for the evening heat races. When the dust settled, Blazusiak, Graffunder and Mike Brown were awarded the best gate picks for the main event. Blazusiak wond the $750 Girardi Wealth Management holeshot award, but it proved a short-term victory when Aaron quickly passed him by. The two riders ran neck-and-neck during the first half of the race, until a mishap sent Aaron tumbling into the GEICO rock garden. That gave Blazusiak a small lead that he managed to hold for the rest of the race.

The competition for third place proved to be a nail biter. Graffunder, Brown, Justin Soule, Gary Sutherlin, Cody Webb and Kyle Redmund. Each had a shot at the podium at various times during the race, but all bets were on Webb until he crashed into the Monster water hole. Brown and Soule followed closely for fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich provided the biggest shock of the day when he crashed during the Last Chance Qualifier, knocking him from the main event. Lucas Oil rider Colton Haaker, last year’s E3 Spark Plugs Junior champion also sat out the main event on the bench.

Next up for the GEICO EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs, maker of the top-rated E3 motorcycle spark plugs: Round Two at Guthrie, Oklahoma’s Lazy E Arena August 14.
(more…)